Authors

Document Type

Research Report

Publication Date

2007

Keywords

Transportation

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed an increase in border security as well as continued growth in international truck traffic at the Pacific Highway Crossing (PHC) in Blaine, Washington. As noted in a recent study, the number of commercial vehicles crossing the border between British Columbia and Whatcom County, Washington, nearly doubled during the nineties, and nearly three-fourths of all trucks crossing this stretch of border are processed at PHC. Congestion at PHC continues to be a concern; the study mentioned above found the average waiting time per southbound truck over a four-day period in the summer of 2002 to be about half an hour. Recent facility enhancements at PHC, notably additional capacity in the form of dedicated lanes and inspection booths for FAST (Free and Secure Trade) participants, were aimed at reducing this congestion. Other security-oriented changes, however, such as lengthier questioning at the inspection booths, have nonetheless increased overall processing times and doubled the waiting times for many trucks at the border.

Share

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.